


Poison

by sapphiclabvibes



Series: Voltron Bingo - H/C [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apologies, Apologies gone wrong, Failed Marriage Proposal, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Poison, Poisoning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 03:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17737856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphiclabvibes/pseuds/sapphiclabvibes
Summary: Lance has shamed some prideful people





	Poison

As they touched down on the surface of the forest planet, Keith caught Lance fiddling with his hands. It was a little quirk he had that told Keith his boyfriend was nervous. He reached out and gave the Blue Paladin’s hand a short squeeze. Lance looked up at him as if he’d forgotten he was there.

“It’s going to be fine,” Keith said, reaching out to cup the boy’s face in his hand. “It was a mistake and now you just need to apologize. We’ll be out of there by the end of the night.”

Lance smiled and pressed his cheek into Keith’s hand. “I know. Thanks, Kogane.”

Keith rolled his eyes, which succeeded in making his boyfriend giggle. Three months of dating (or as close as you could get while floating through space and saving the universe) and Lance still found ways to avoid calling him any sort of cutesy nicknames.

“We’re ready,” Allura said, coming up behind them and shattering the moment. “Now remember, the Goti of Nahrea are very protective of their royal family. Do not make any sudden moves toward them and do not touch them unless they initiate contact.”

Lance nodded but Keith knew her didn’t need the reminder. He had discovered the Blue Paladin late at night in the castle library on several occasions, pouring over books that contained even a shred of information about Nahrea and its inhabitants. At this point, Lance probably knew more about the planet and its history than the royals of Nahrea. He would never say it aloud, but he knew it was true.

As the door opened, Keith stepped away from Lance and watched him descend the stairs to the forest floor. A large entourage had come out to greet them. Guards, priests, scribes, soldiers, generals, and merchants stood in a large cluster around the Castle of Lions. All of them were barefoot, as was the custom on Nahrea. Something about being closer to their nature goddess. Keith didn’t want to think about how dirty their stone floors would get. At the center of this sat the king and queen of the Goti with their young daughter nestled between them. Aside from their glowing red skin that was cold to the touch and their five pairs of eyes, the Goti looked fairly humanoid.

The caravan of important people parted as Lance moved through them. They would have closed ranks behind him if the other paladins weren’t right on his heels. Keith stood at the back, his relationship with the Blue Paladin being the reason they had to make this return visit to the planet. They stopped just before the royal family and Lance fell to his knees, eyes fixed firmly on the feet in front of him.

“Royal entities of Nahrea and the Goti who inhabit her,” he began, voice strong and confident. “I, Lance McClain, paladin of Voltron and representative of Earth, do humbly beg your forgiveness for the scorn and shame I showed towards your family.”

Keith couldn’t help but smile with pride. Lance had been practicing his apology for weeks, working with different voice inflections and trying to memorize everything he had to say. On some of the nights where one of them needed the comfort of a warm body sleeping beside them, Keith had caught Lance muttering the words of his speech in his sleep.

The king rose from his makeshift throne and took a few steps toward Lance, his bare feet sinking into the soft dirt. The look on his face was one of disapproval and he used the toe of his boot to raise Lance’s gaze from the ground. Keith bristled and his hand went to his bayard, but a stern look from Shiro kept him from activating it.

“Blue Paladin of Voltron,” the king said, “we accept your apology.” The crowd began to cheer and Keith saw all the tension in Lance’s body release as he was helped to his feet by the king and queen. He kissed the princess’s hand and she blushed slightly. The king raised his hands and everyone became eerily silent. “My family and I would like to invite you and the other Voltron paladins to dine with us tonight as a sign of our good nature.”

“We would be honored,” Lance accepted.

The entourage began to turn around and head for the castle gates. Keith caught up with his boyfriend and intertwined their fingers. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”

*******  
The feast was unlike anything Keith had ever seen before. Whole roasted animals sat in the middle of the table as the guests picked off the pieces they wanted. Plates filled with strange fruits and vegetables, breads, sweets, and other smaller dishes were being carried around by waiters as the paladins sat amongst the Goti royal family. And no matter where you turned, there was someone offering a strange alcoholic beverage that tasted like chocolate milk. He wanted to share this experience with Lance, but the Blue Paladin was trying to make sure he didn’t fall out of favor with the royals (again). So Keith watched as his boyfriend made jokes with the king and complimented the queen on her choice of jewelry for the evening. He was happy that Lance looked like himself again, but Keith just wanted him to turn those beautiful blue eyes on him for more than a few seconds.

“I want you to try something,” the king was saying as Keith began listening to the conversation again. The ruler of Nahrea had summoned two goblets from a nearby waiter and was handing one to Lance. “It’s called kaoli. My ancestors took nunvil from an Altean alchemist and made some… adjustments.”

Keith watched as Lance took a tentative sip. It obviously didn’t have the same effects as nunvil because he kept drinking until the glass was empty. He set it down with a sigh and smiled at the king.

“Thank you, your highness. That wa-”

He stopped in the middle of his word, face beginning to flush a bright red. His eyes went wide and he looked to Keith for help before falling forward and gasping for air. Keith caught him before he could hit the floor.

“What did you do to him?” he screamed. Lance was clawing at his neck and face and his lips were turning purple.

“The Blue Paladin disrespected my daughter and my ancestors.” The king was completely calm. He even had a small smile on his face as he watched Lance struggle for every breath. “For that, he must die.”

Keith scooped the gasping boy into his arms and ran for the door. He was stopped by two guards who held their spears out to block his path. He could feel his skin tingle and he knew his eyes had gone yellow by the look the guards gave him. He was about to fight them one-handed when they each took a shot to the chest and fell to the ground.

“Take him to Coran!” Hunk shouted and Keith didn’t hesitate. He ran from the hall and out the front gates, trying not to jostle the dying boy in his arms too much. There were footsteps pounding behind him but he didn’t look back to see if they were friendly. The only thing on his mind was getting to the ship before it was too late.

Coran met him at the medical bay. Keith laid the Blue Paladin out on the table as the Altean man began his examination. The rest of the team filed in behind them and tried to answer any questions the medic had. Lance had lost consciousness just after they left the castle but Coran had assured Keith that he was still breathing. His face was pale and his breaths, though still there, were ragged and shallow. His lips were blue and purple from lack of oxygen and his hands were shaking. No, wait. Lance’s hands were deathly still. It was Keith’s hands that were shaking.

“Do you know what caused this?” Shiro inquired, asking the question that Keith couldn’t dislodge from his throat.

“I’ve seen this a few times before,” Coran answered, his hands still working. “It’s a poison call Sweet Lady’s Kiss. It gives anything it comes in contact with a very sweet flavor. Did Lance eat or drink anything before going into this state?”

“They offered him a drink,” Keith whispered, soft enough to miss if someone else was talking. “They said it was similar to nunvil. He drank the whole thing.”

“There’s only one cure for this, my boy. The sap of a certain root that grows in the deepest forests of Nahrea.”

“I’ll go get it. What does it look like? Where can I find it?” Keith was already on his feet with his bayard in hand.

“It won’t work, Keith.” Coran’s voice was somber now and he had stopped working on the boy in front of him. “It would take days to search the entire planet, even with all of us looking. Lance only has hours left.”

“I may be able to help.”

Everyone turned to the door, alerted by the new voice joining the conversation. The small Goti princess stood just inside the medical bay, still dressed in her gown from the feast. All ten of her eyes flitted between everyone in the room before landing on Lance. She slowly held out her hand to reveal a vial clear liquid tinted a bright green.

“It’s the sap to save your friend,” she explained when no one moved forward to retrieve it. Keith moved to grab for it but Shiro held him back.

“How do we know this is really what he needs?” Pidge asked.

“I never wanted to marry the Blue Paladin. I was relieved when he turned me down but my father wouldn’t hear of it.” She set the vial on the ground and gentky rolled it in Coran’s direction. “I’m telling the truth. I don’t want anyone to die because of my father’s pride.”

Keith scooped up the sap and shoved it in Coran’s face. “Is this what we need?”

The medic examined it carefully, turning the vial over and over in his hands. “It appears so,” he said after a few moments.

“Then fucking give it to him!”

Allura tipped back Lance’s head as Coran uncorked the vial and poured it down the boy’s throat. Everyone took a step back and held their breath. On the table, Lance jerked and coughed. Keith ran over to help him into a sitting position so he wouldn’t choke. The Blue Paladin spluttered for a few moments before squinting into the light. He looked around the room at everyone before meeting Keith’s frantic gaze.

“Were you worried about me, baby?” he asked. His voice was hoarse but it still had his trademark flirtatious tone.

Keith couldn’t stop himself. Tears ran down his cheeks as he buried his face in his boyfriend’s chest. Through the armor he could faintly hear Lance’s heartbeat drumming away in his chest. He felt a hand come up to run through his hair. He was alive and holding him. Keith turned his face upward to catch the other boy’s lips in a soft kiss.

“Damn, a public kiss and you’ve got your hands all over me? I should visit the brink of death more often.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

The others came up to hug the Blue Paladin. Pidge and Hunk looked like they were also on the brink of tears, but they managed to control themselves better than Keith had. Allura and Shiro were smiling ear to ear, while Coran looked about as wrecked as Keith assumed he did. The medic was still holding the vial, though it only contained a few remaining drops of the life-saving liquid.

Keith whipped his head around to look at the door. He had to find some way to thank the little princess. But she was gone, with only her dirty footprints to signify she had ever been there at all.

**Author's Note:**

> voltron bingo round 2 is here!
> 
> tumblr: sapphiclabvibes
> 
> leave a comment to water by crops and shoo away my depression : )


End file.
